Adopt a Toilet

This morning's news was grim: budget cuts have forced the closure of city Parks Department restrooms. A 35 percent budget cut this year following a 15 percent cut last year means layoffs and not enough staff to clean restrooms. The "people who are against everything," in their infinite wisdom, advocate urinating in the bushes and on people's lawns. This could be hazardous to health in more ways than one.

Instead, I suggest the neighbors get together and "adopt a toilet" in their neighborhood. One neighbor gets the keys, and a page of cleaning instructions and signs up other neighbors on a schedule. It's not a new idea -- citizens have been "adopting a highway" for some time, cleaning up trash along roadways. So instead of chasing a urinator off the lawn with a nine iron, a resident can pitch in on a rotation with other neighbors and keep the toilets open and the neighborhood clean.